


Central Park

by blvehydrangea



Category: The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid
Genre: Canon Related, F/M, Loss, Love, Nostalgia, Past Character Death, Past Relationship(s), Relationship(s), Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-14 11:48:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9180223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blvehydrangea/pseuds/blvehydrangea
Summary: Months after Chris's death, Erica returns to their usual picnic spot with Changez. Lounging together in midsummer, Erica sees Changez as someone she connects with, someone who can finally understand her pain.But with her heart still heavy with loss, Erica begins to ponder whether she would ever be able to love and feel loved the way she used to.Erica's POV. A one-shot based on the Chapter 4 scene when Erica and Changez have a picnic lunch in Central Park.





	

We rested on the lush grass, relishing the wine and food I brought with me in my basket. I had asked Changez out for a picnic at Central Park before he left for Manila that weekend. The two of us sat in an empty area of the park, and in the calm I remembered Chris sitting beside me the last time we picnicked together here. I closed my eyes to take in everything around me: the mid-July wind in my hair, the white puffs in the great blue sky, the gentle rustling of the waving leaves. The only thing missing was Chris.

I took a sip from my wine glass and turned to Changez. “Do people have picnics in Lahore?” I asked him. “Not so much in the summer,” he said. “At least not if they have any choice in the matter. The sun is too strong, and the only people one sees sitting outside are clustered in the shade.” I glanced around the open lawn and across the walkway in front of us. “So this must seem very foreign to you, then,” I said. “No,” Changez replied, “in fact it reminds me of when my family would go up to Nathia Galli, in the foothills of the Himalayas.” His eyes twinkled. “There we often used to take our meals in the open – with tea and cucumber sandwiches from the hotel.” His voice, rich like honey, radiated strength and warmth. I smiled, picturing him with his family, sitting in below a tree and the high, high mountains above.

Sinking my teeth into a piece of warm bread, I thought about lounging around this park with Chris, how we used to spend our afternoons together under the sun. Why did Changez and I have to leave our homes, and the people we most cherished? How easy things were when Chris and I had each other. I looked up and saw Changez watching me, like he was waiting for me to speak, and he would listen.

“I haven’t done this in a long time,” I told him. “Chris and I used to come to the park a lot. We’d bring this basket with us and just read or hang out for hours.” “Was it when he died,” Changez asked, “that you stopped coming?” I reached for a daisy in the grass, plucking it lightly with my fingers. “I stopped,” I answered, “a bunch of things. For a while I stopped talking to people. I stopped eating. I had to go to the hospital. They told me not to think about it so much and put me on medication. My mom had to take three months off work because I couldn’t be by myself.” I felt my voice soften. “We kept it quiet, though, and by September I was back at Princeton.” Remembering the pain and the weight I had to bear ever since Chris left, my throat clenched a little tighter. I lifted my knees to my chest and took another drink from my wine glass, letting the cool, bittersweet liquid linger in my mouth, then swallowed. Changez stayed silent, but it felt warm having him next to me. I wished I could be satisfied with him, and I believed that I could. I told myself that he was enough, but he just wasn’t Chris.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! :)  
> Please feel free to leave any comments or suggestions! Feedback is much appreciated.  
> I hope you found this worthy of your time, and hope you have a great day <3


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